Norton 360 Everywhere 'protects PC, mobile & Mac'

Symantec today revealed details of its upcoming Norton 360 Everywhere product. Full UK pricing and availability is not yet available for Norton 360 Everywhere, but it will comprise Norton 360, as well as mobile and mac security products, all accessible from a single, cloud-based interface.

But can any software protect the whole individual?

Symantec today revealed details of its upcoming 'Norton 360 Everywhere' security software. Full UK pricing and availability is not yet available for Norton 360 Everywhere, but it will comprise Norton 360 version 6, as well as mobile and mac security products, all accessible from a single, cloud-based interface.

In an interview, Symantec's Norton Product Expert Jatinder Shetra told PC Advisor that today's consumers are more connected than ever before. He said their use of multiple smartphone and tablet devices, and use of social media services, means that end users are producing and passing around more data, in an ever increasing variety of ways. Shetra said that this complex environment made modern consumers uniquely vulnerable to attack, and that the joined-up approach of Norton 360 Everywhere would protect them.

We've no argument with the assessment of the risk, but it remains to be seen how successful any security software company can be in offering protection for the person, rather than an individual device. The 'Mobile' component of Norton 360 Everywhere comprises only Norton Mobile Security: an Android app that is good for data protection and theft prevention, but untested against Android malware (a threat that is in itself latent). There's no suggestion of protection for BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Phone, and is there really any point in Mac antivirus?

I'm not saying that Mac users need not worry about web threats, merely that outside of the Windows space the threat is more behaviour than software based, and I remain to be convinced that any security program can protect against it, although it definitely helps to be able to remotely destroy stolen data in the event of an attack. So while it is imperative that Windows users have robust security software, this should only ever be seen as a base level. (Not that I'm having a go at Norton, all the software vendors who are selling 'mobile security software' are guilty of overselling their abilities.) See also: Norton One pilot launches.

What then, does Norton 360 Everywhere offer consumers? Well, you get to manage all three elements of the suite from that single interface, accessible wherever you can get online. And there is 25GB of storage, as well as all the functionality found in the just released version 6 of Norton 360. Bearing in mind that Norton's AV engine is amongst the best there is, if the pricing is right this starts to make the Everywhere flavour well worth having. Norton Mobile Security is worth having, if only for its remote bricking and anti-theft capabilities, and Shetra told us that buying Norton 360 Everywhere either online or in store will make installing all three composite elements a seamless experience.